Hollywood Sign

A visit to Hollywood is probably a must when you are in the Los Angeles area. Of course we wanted to see the place where so many movies have been made. Isaac and Amelia had planned a hike to the Hollywood sign for us, followed by a drive through the Hollywood Hills, home to many fantastic buildings, including some by John Lautner, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Unfortunately, Amelia had to work that day and couldn't join us.
We drove to Hollywood, parked the car, and hiked up to the big Hollywood letters on the hillside overlooking the city. As you can imagine, there were a lot of tourists there, not all of them used to hiking... We passed many people, enjoyed the fantastic view of the huge metropolis of Los Angeles below us, and reached the sign after about an hour.
We were unusually lucky with the weather. I'm not talking about the sun, I'm talking about the smog! LA has a big smog problem, especially during the summer months. In the fall and winter, it's not as bad as in the summer, but you generally can't see very far. On the day of our hike, however, we had a very wide view. You could still see the smog, but it wasn't very thick, so we could see as far as Long Beach to the south, Venice Beach to the west, and the entire San Fernando Valley to the north.
After a few photos behind the letters, we unpacked our picnic, sat down across from San Fernando, and enjoyed a nice lunch before heading back to the car.
Next on our list was an architectural treasure hunt through the Hollywood Hills. Famous and rich people live here. The scenery is amazing. The hills are steep and many of the more densely built areas have the feel of small Italian villages. Only the houses aren't as old. Isaac had located three John Lautner houses in the neighborhood and we set out to find them. It wasn't easy because you can't see very far in these hills. Some of the roads seemed to be private, so we had to turn around a few times, which was quite a task in these narrow roads! But we were lucky and found two of the three houses, although we couldn't really see one of them because it was hidden behind a large bamboo forest! I realized later that we could have seen many more John Lautner houses in the area, we just didn't know the addresses at the time. Oh well, next time.
We drove on to West Hollywood, where Isaac had spotted the Wolff house. We knew from photos that the house was clearly visible from the street, so it was a safe bet to drive there. We parked the car on Sunset Boulevard and walked up the hill until we were right in front of the house, just below the beautiful patio and pool that can't be seen from the street. I knew the house from videos and pictures, though, and immediately recognized all the special elements, such as the two trees that were not cut down during construction, but incorporated into the overall concept of the house. That was very nice. The last time this house was listed, it sold for $11 million. Not much compared to the insane real estate prices we had seen in the windows of real estate agencies in Hollywood and Beverly Hills (see pictures in the last post).
It was time for coffee at Matte Black Coffee before heading to our last stop in Hollywood: the Walk of Fame. We walked up and down both sides of Hollywood Boulevard and kept our heads down, looking for our favorite actor or musician immortalized with a gold star and name on a red stone. After many stops at Jimi Hendrix, John Goodman, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, we got an ice cream and headed home.
That night we had a date with Amelia at a brewery in Anaheim, not far from Isaac and Amelia's home. The vegetarian menu basically wasn't available, so we could just eat a large portion of fries. But the beer was really good!

On Monday, our last day in Los Angeles, Amelia and Isaac took us on a short hike in Glendora, one of their regular weekend hikes because of the beautiful views, shade, and proximity to The Donut Man, a legendary donut shop on Route 66. After the hour and a half hike, we rewarded ourselves with some of these delicious pastries. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of donuts to replenish the energy lost on such a hike. And we ate a lot of donuts.
The evening had another special event in store for us. Amelia plays piano for the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA). That night they had one of their last rehearsals before two big concerts at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills in December. Amelia took us to the rehearsal so we could experience a phenomenal free concert by this wonderful group of men (and Amelia!). We finished the night with a very authentic korean dinner.

Our time in Los Angeles was amazing. We owe it to our two great friends, Isaac and Amelia, who went out of their way to make sure we had a great time. Without their knowledgeable and eclectic guides and their pleasant nature, the city would have been too much for us to handle. Thank you Amelia and Isaac! We hope to see you again soon! (Oh, well, we'll see each other in two days to celebrate Thanksgiving together in Encinitas...but after that, we really hope to see you again soon!)Read more